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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: dougjn who wrote (3156)	9/16/1998 12:23:00 PM
From: j_b	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 67261

<<Leading a political compromise that has lead to the first sustainably balanced budget since the 1920s>> The Republicans would have passed a balanced budget without Clinton. What he did was to make sure that it was framed a certain way. Whether that is good or bad, of course, depends on your political points of view. I give him no credit for getting a balanced budget passed - Congress didn't need him for that - but I do give him credit for signing it. <<an unprecedentedly fast growing economy. The fast growing economy was strongly related to the balanced budget, as well as partly related to the excellent management of his economic team, Rubin, and Greenspan who he supported remaining in place>> I agree that the economy was at least partly fueled by economic restraint in Congress, but as I said above, I don't give any credit for that to Clinton. He was trying to add more spending right up to the final vote. As to his economic team - Greenspan is independent of Clinton, and does what he thinks is appropriate, so the President can't take any credit for Greenspans actions. The rest of his team - what did they do? <<Bosnia was indeed a great accomplishment, however frayed that eternally volatile area may be>> What was the accomplishment? Genocide was the order of the day. American troops were put at risk for nothing. The peace didn't last. <<Don't forget the Oslo peace accords, sadly wounded by an Israeli assassin's bullet. >> The Oslo accords never had a chance. They were predicated on a willingness on both sides to compromise. The Palestinians have not fulfilled any of their commitments (for example - removing the wording from their charter that calls for the elimination of Israel), and the Israelis have never been eager to give up any more that might compromise their security. Oslo was a myth. <<Welfare reform, though a Republican wish for decades, would never have become reality (or been compromised into a fairer and more workable form), without Clinton's taking up the cause.>> Absolutely untrue, except for the part about the form. The Republicans weren't exactly goaded into passing welfare reform by Clinton, and he fought the legislation the whole way. Should he get credit for making it more "fair"? Yes, because of his use of the veto threat. However, his definition of fair might be very different from mine, and he might have actually caused the reform to be harmfully weakened. Only time will tell. <<He has helped form a new centrism in American politics. Some Republican push was needed (and I supported it), but also some centrism which the Republicans have yet to provide.>> Absolutely - I agree completely.